Dawn - Poem by Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall

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O KEEP the world forever at the dawn,Ere yet the opals, cobweb-strung, have dried,Ere yet too bounteous gifts have marred the mornOr fading stars have died.O, keep the eastern gold no wider thanAn angel's finger-span,And hush the increasing thunder of the seaTo murmuring melodyIn those fair coves where tempests ne'er should be.

Hold back the line of shoreward-sweeping surgeAnd veil each deep sea-pool in pearlier mist,Ere yet the silver ripples on the vergeHave turned to amethyst.Fling back the chariot of encroaching dayAnd call the winds awayEre yet they sigh, and let the hastening sunAlong his path in heaven no higher run,But show through all the years his golden rimWith shadows lingering dimForever o'er the world awaiting him.

Hold every bird with still and drowsy wing,That in the breathless hush no clamorous throat Shall break the peace that hangs on everythingWith shrill awakening note;Keep fast the half-seen beauties of the roseIn undisturbed repose,Check all the iris buds where they unfoldImpatient from their hold,And close the cowslips' cups of honeyed gold.

Keep all things hushed, so hushed we seem to hearThe sounds of low-swung clouds that sweep the trees;Let now no harsher music reach the ear,No earthlier sounds than these,When whispering shadows move within the grass,And airy tremors passThrough all the earth with life awakening thrilled,And so forever stilled,Too sweet in promise e'er to be fulfilled.

O keep the world forever at the dawn,Yet, keeping so, let nothing lifeless seem,But hushed, as if the miracle of mornWere trembling in its dream.Some shadowy moth may pass with downy flightAnd fade before the sight,While in the unlightened darkness of the wallThe chirping crickets call;From forest pools where fragrant lilies areA breath shall pass afar,And o'er the crested pine shall hang one star.